Done with pleurothallids

I am done with masdies and draculas. As much as I hate to admit my unsuccesses - at some point it would become obvious - pleuros are not my plants. Either they don't like my conditions, or they don't like me, or both.

I tried... Increasing humidity, keeping them in the cool basement.
Now I give up - they don't look happy no matter what I do, so why should I even bother.



I don't need those finicky small plants with their microscopic blooms(convincing myself of course, they are adorable).

At this point I am not trying anymore.
Eventually every each of them will hit the garbage and I am not buying any ever again.

Masdevallia Peppermint Rock x ignea blooms

I found it open its flower today. Sadly second bud did blast. I am not sure if the top of the bloom will open more.
So here it is - Masdevallia Peppermint Rock x ignea - my second masdie to bloom.

Masdevallia buds progress

This is just to document the progress of the buds on Masdevallia Peppermint Rock x ignea.



The larger one now looks like a creepy claw:



I wonder what would be the color of the blooms. For some reason the word Peppermint makes me think they would be green(?).

Mystery masdie spiking

I got Masdevallia Peppermint Rock x ignea fromEcuagenera as freebe and could not find any picture of this cross' bloom. So it is sort of a mystery plant for me. Now the mystery might get resolved, because I think it is spiking:



Maybe here it is better to see with white background:



This is second masdie to bloom for me, I think masdevallia genera is really making its way into my collection. At least I will be looking through Ecuagenera website when October comes - time to pre-order stuff for Montreal show.

Masdevallia Prince Charming

I pre-ordered Masd. Prince Charming from Ecuagenera. When picking it up from the show in March I was disappointed with the look of the foliage. It had ugly purple and yellow patches all over:



I wanted to just leave it and walk away, but representative said that it is a good strong plant and patches are from the sun exposure. He also said that if masdie dies, he will bring me the new one to the next show for free, so I took it.
I think he was right. Plant had nice roots and now produced two new growth:



I still don't like those yellow and purple patches on the leaves, but at least the new growth should be nice and green.

Masdevallia decumana bloomed too

I must admit that on the picture it looks a bit better than in real life, probably because it is zoomed and flash makes the colors brighter. Still I am proud of this bloom and like it a lot. Hope it is not the last one.



I am going to photograph it on the weekend when there will be a good daylight. Will compare the results.

Masdevallia decumana

This is just an update on a bud. It is still here, not blasted. I also found at least three new leaves started to grow in the different parts of the plant. They are leaning towards the light. I should probably move it from the bookcase to a brighter location. I didn't dare to stake a spike because it looks too thin and fragile, but put a small piece of packing peanut under it to create a soft cushion where it touches the pot edge.